Happy birthday, Roberto Murolo!

For those of you who don't know him, one of the greatest singers of the canzona napulitana. Murolo's voice, so utterly unaffected yet radiantly heartfelt, has kept me company for many years. He taught me the smidgen of Neapolitan I have, for which I am eternally grateful. In my world of academic abstractions, he reminds me that it is the simply, unpretentiously beautiful which matters at the end of the day. And his singing is a constant reminder of the oral roots of poetry, too often neglected.

Thank you for gifting your musical traditions to the world, Roberto Murolo.